I shoot maternity &amp; newborn clients in-home so have to work with space &amp; light they have. I have been trying to avoid buying continuous lights for this reason, working ok for me so far. In the first shot I turned off all the lights, added dark brown velvet backdrop clamped on their drapery rods.Used the 580ex plus a Lumiquestmini-softbox, that thing is my new best friend! The focus beam assist of the speedlite+USMwork together fabulously.

You should check kenmck's inspirational setup out. In the 2nd shot I did add a 100w tungsten bulb in one of those hardware store clamp lamps to give it a more high-key effect.